Second week in September

Gwen was with Richie at the farm one Saturday morning, so I only had 2 helpers helping me can chili sauce.:)


Thanks to Ian and Makenna, Richie and I were treated to "Forever Plaid" at the new Hale Center Theater, as a belated birthday present for Richie. They even came to our house to babysit! Wow! I wish we could have date nights every night. They are the best!


Giant Boggle wall! We had a fun time with this one.


Benson is less inclined to snuggling these days. I'm grateful to get them whenever I can!


These pictures are low quality, but I snuck a few when I went to pick up Lindy from tumbling the other day. She was on cloud nine!


Lindy's first time going to joy school when I wasn't the teacher. She was a little nervous, but mostly so excited. Miles kept trying to hug her as an excuse to photo bomb her, and she kept pushing him away. There are about 10 pictures of this, and they are all hilarious.


Cuties in the tub!!



I'm taking an online drawing class to keep my ElEd degree current. I was excited to take this class because I felt like I needed something just for me. However, although it's mostly enjoyable, I'm finding it's just one more thing for me to worry about. And only 2 weeks in, I'm already excited for it to be done. There will be a season when I can take a class like this and really enjoy it. This is not that season!


We hosted a small, but wonderful home school group day at our house. We were learning about King James, hence the gold crowns and the stately poses. :)


It makes my heart skip a beat when I find them all voluntarily reading on the couch!

First week of September

I found a good deal on some mums, and Richie wanted to try and plant some cold weather crops out front again. So he spent a lot of time sifting our compost to make raised beds, and then we had the kids help us plant the flowers and veggie seeds. However, after they finished and went out back to play, the perfectionist in me had to go replant all the flowers in a nice row.



I'm trying out the whole sourdough thing. I tried it back in the day and could never get my bread right. So I'm trying different recipes this time. These sourdough pumpkin pancakes are to die for!


Benson and his favorite birthday present!



First day back to home school group! These pictures are of the kids making dikes out of playdoh, since we learned about the dikes in Holland.


Water beads are always a hit. Always.


Richie's seminary did a tree of life simulation so we went through with our homeschool group. Lindy was terrified the whole time. Other than that, it was a fun outing.


Richie started teaching group ukulele lessons to Miles and the 3 oldest Beckstrom kids. The group atmosphere has really pushed Miles to practice more and enjoy it more, for which I am grateful!


Some basic school stuff. Lindy's alphabet sticker book, and practicing spelling words with post its

Benson Turns 1

Oh my sweet Benson Bear, how can you be 1 year old already??? Didn't we just barely take you home from the hospital? It's always crazy to me how fast the first year goes. You have learned and grown so much these past 12 months.

Just the other day, Dad and I saw a picture of you and realized just how much you have thinned out since you started really crawling. We were sad you aren't just this little pudgy ball of squish anymore, but also excited to see your little body develop and mature. Your face especially has really thinned out. You now have 5 teeth, with more coming any day now. You are a fast crawler and can get anywhere you want. So naturally you have started disliking the highchair, car seat, diaper changes, etc etc.

You are really starting to understand things and make connections. If you want to go somewhere, you point in that direction. If you want to eat, you blow air (to cool the food off). :) I can't be sure, but the other day Dad went to get you in the morning instead of me, and when you thought you weren't going to get to nurse, you started saying, "mamama!" You are starting to understand the signs for "food", "all done" and "more", as well as waving hello and goodbye, and you almost have blowing kisses down.

You still take 2 naps during the day, most of the time. Sometimes you have to skip your first nap from around 930-10-30 because we are running around somewhere. Your 2nd nap is always a really good one. From around 130-430. You sleep through the night just fine, but are in this nasty habit lately of waking up at 530. That routine is gettin' old bud! For a while there, your favorite food was watermelon. But I think we may have fed you too much, cause lately you're not as excited about it. You love most sweet foods. Tonight we had zucchini noodles and homemade marinara sauce, and you couldn't get enough of that! We are down to 1 nursing in the mornings. Mostly just so I can snuggle with you in bed and delay waking up.

Basically, we love you kid! You're the best Benson ever. You are full of life and you bring this family so much happiness!

For your first birthday we let you eat your #1 pancake all by yourself. We even put a little syrup on it, and you ate 2 WHOLE pancakes! We bought you 3 HUGE balloons to make it feel more festive. That day, we took you and your siblings to Thanksgiving Point. Uncle Ross, Aunt Amanda, and Emerson came too! We went to the farm there so you could see all the different animals. On Saturday we had a party with the Garner side to celebrate you and Aunt Makenna's birthday too. You got some really cool presents and a specially made chicken cake. :) It was your first animal noise, so I thought it was appropriate. I was expecting you to dive right into it, but you didn't care too much for it. You had to skip a nap that day and were, understandably, a little cranky. Your favorite part of the day was getting soaking wet following Grandma around as she watered the lawn. You couldn't get enough! It was fun to watch you enjoy life so much!

Happy Birthday Benson!! (There were so many cute pictures, it was hard to narrow it down! You can't help it, you're just so darn photogenic)

Give me the Simple Life

I don't believe in frettin' and grievin';
Why mess around with strife?
I never was cut out to step and strut out.
Give me the simple life.

Some find it pleasant dining on pheasant.
Those things roll off my knife;
Just serve me tomatoes; and mashed potatoes;
Give me the simple life.

A cottage small is all I'm after,
Not one that's spacious and wide.
A house that rings with joy and laughter
And the ones you love inside.

Some like the high road, I like the low road,
Free from the care and strife.
Sounds corny and seedy, but yes, indeedy;
Give me the simple life.

I wish I wrote this song. I love it so much. Especially if Ella Fitzgerald is singing it. I feel like a Rich woman when Benson and I snack on strawberries from our front bed in between weeding. I feel content when summer dinners consist of fresh corn on the cob, fresh green beans, fresh peaches, homemade bread with mayo and garden tomatoes. Richie and I could eat tomato sandwiches for every meal and be ok with that. In fact I'm pretty sure that if Richie was on death row, he would request a garden tomato sandwich for his last meal. I feel at peace when the kids want a snack, so they go pick raspberries and blackberries in the backyard. I feel lucky when I find 3 warm, brown eggs in the hens favorite laying spot. I feel completely at peace when I hang clothes up on the line and listen to the wind in the trees. Give me the simple life.

Starting School

The time leading up to the beginning of a new school year is full of excitement for me; both the good kind and the bad. I was woefully under prepared going into the new school year. I barely ordered curriculum in time. My preparation mostly consisted of telling the kids that school was coming, buying them each a new outfit, and then silently freaking out because I felt like I couldn't even handle regular life at this point, how was I supposed to add school on top of everything? "So should we go a different route?" I thought. "Nope, it still feels right." So I ordered the books and put all of my trust in Heavenly Father. He's got it all figured out, so I just keep doing my best to follow along. Even if that means not being able to see the end from the beginning, and even if it stresses me out...a lot sometimes.

People ask me about homeschooling a lot and the best analogy I've come up with is that it's just like motherhood. It's the hardest thing I've ever done. EVER. But I love it so much that the thought of giving it up makes me so sad it actually hurts a little. On days when I get absolutely overwhelmed, Richie is always good to remind me that we don't have to do it this way. There are lots of educational options out there. But this still feels good and there are so many pros to doing it this way. I get giddy organizing the school room, getting new books in the mail and buying school supplies. I love watching my kids progress and being their biggest cheerleader. I love the freedom. I love learning new things alongside them. It's awesome, and terrifying, and wonderful.

I decided to make more of an effort to wake up before the kids this year, so that we could get going on our school work earlier in the day. Of course, once that thought was completed in my brain, it ensured that although Benson had been sleeping steadily till 7 the past few months, he would then change his schedule to begin his day at 530. So that plan has been successfully thwarted almost every day since we began school. But, on day one, I was successful. I was so anxious for school to start I woke up every hour the night before. At 6 I got showered and was so excited to have some quiet time alone to read my scriptures, and then I found a Gwen in my room. :) She was so excited for school to start she had been waking up in the night too. She was dressed and ready to begin. :)

The kids were so excited to wear their new outfits and we had a great first day. However, by the 3rd day I was already dealing with attitude problems. ON THE 3RD DAY!! When I asked Gwen why she wasn't excited anymore, she said it was because she didn't have any more new outfits to wear. Hmmmm... Miles didn't have a specific reason. He just is generally less excited about school than Gwen. We have been doing school since mid August, and are getting into a really good groove. Lindy is participating in a more academic way, Benson still takes a short nap in the mornings and that makes it easier for a bit, and most of the time, they work really hard and are learning so much. Here's their "official" first day of school pictures. Miles- 3rd grade, Gwen 1st grade, Lindy- pre-k, Benson - Mommy school. :)